Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) Shares Acquired by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR - Free Report) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 322,248 shares of the network equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,975 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Juniper Networks worth $12,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Juniper Networks by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,643,049 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $136,432,000 after purchasing an additional 646,742 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 1,318.8% in the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 297,327 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $11,135,000 after acquiring an additional 276,371 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,580 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the period. Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Juniper Networks in the 4th quarter valued at $43,413,000. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Juniper Networks by 462.8% in the 4th quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 49,361 shares of the network equipment provider's stock valued at $1,849,000 after acquiring an additional 40,591 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.95% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Juniper Networks

In other news, COO Manoj Leelanivas sold 30,978 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.02, for a total value of $1,115,827.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 94,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,413,651.42. The trade was a 24.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.37% of the company's stock.

Juniper Networks Stock Up 0.1%

Juniper Networks stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.33. 1,919,978 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,246,637. Juniper Networks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.42 and a 1 year high of $39.79. The firm has a market cap of $12.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.61.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The network equipment provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Juniper Networks had a net margin of 5.67% and a return on equity of 7.57%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Juniper Networks, Inc. will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Juniper Networks Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. Juniper Networks's payout ratio is currently 83.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Juniper Networks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Argus downgraded shares of Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Juniper Networks in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Juniper Networks from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Juniper Networks from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Juniper Networks Company Profile

Juniper Networks, Inc designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide. The company offers routing products, such as ACX series universal access routers to deploy high-bandwidth services; MX series Ethernet routers that function as a universal edge platform; PTX series packet transport routers; wide-area network SDN controllers; and session smart routers.